The team behind Redfern’s Bat & Ball Hotel have reinvigorated an inner west staple. Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. AAA Historic Newtown pub The Carlisle Castle will reopen on Friday with $1 oyster specials, Sunday roasts and jazz nights, under the
The team behind Redfern’s Bat & Ball Hotel have reinvigorated an inner west staple.
Historic Newtown pub The Carlisle Castle will reopen on Friday with $1 oyster specials, Sunday roasts and jazz nights, under the custodianship of the hospitality team behind the successful 2024 revival of The Bat & Ball Hotel in Redfern.
The group, made up of Rachael Paul, Dan McBride and Dynn Szmulewicz (of former bars The Sunshine Inn and Golden Gully), Zac Godbolt and culinary director Cameron Votano, spent more than a year trying to secure the 150-year-old drinking hole, known for its resident ghost and laid-back atmosphere.
“It wasn’t even up for sale yet … but we all agreed on it unanimously, instantly, and it was quite weird because it was on all of our minds,” says co-owner McBride. “There really wasn’t another option for us – we were happy to persevere.”
Beyond their personal connection to The Carlisle, which used to serve as their local, the team pursued the pub for its heritage charm: pressed tin ceilings, Federation woodwork and a long marble bar installed by Sydney-founded brewery Reschs in the 1920s.
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The renovation sought to restore that original character, while leaning into ’70s nostalgia to freshen it up. Say goodbye to the stained carpets, pokies and TAB room; say hello to two new pool tables and a betting-turned-wine-delivery window.
“Pubs change hands a lot and there’s a big temptation to try to put your own stamp on the place, but I don’t think pubs should be ego-driven,” says McBride. “They’re for everyone. It’s a meeting spot for the community … We’re really trying not to whitewash it.”
There’s an enclosed, dog-friendly courtyard, TVs to watch sport and a stacked weekly calendar including $10 cheeseburgers and $15 martinis during jazz night on Thursdays; $1 oysters with a tequila and mezcal mignonette (“fresh lime flavour, with a little bit of smokiness”) on Saturdays; and a Sunday roast, featuring slow-cooked, medium-rare scotch fillet with a red wine mushroom jus, Dutch carrots and potatoes cooked in beef tallow.
“Bat & Ball was our first pub, and we found there was a lot of demand for those classics, and I think Cam really nails down one of the best versions of a schnitzel – made with quality ingredients, delivered well, time-and-again,” says McBride.
While the menu bears similarities to The Bat & Ball Hotel, Votano has given the usual pub fare a little northern European flair. The chicken schnitzel is served Vienna-style, with a sage, rosemary and pretzel crumb; a beef and Guiness pie is made with slow-cooked chuck steak, red wine and vintage cheddar on Pepe Saya puff pastry (“I can see that being a real heavy-hitter,” says McBride); and an old school chicken Kyiv, hand-rolled with garlic and chive butter.
“I’m really focusing on simplicity of dishes, but with an emphasis on flavour,” says Votano. “You know, treating vegetables correctly, putting pickles in where you need to, brining things when you have to, so that dishes are undersold on the menu and overdeliver on flavour.”
For snacks, there’ll be pig’s head toast with burnt apple mustard, skin-on shoestring chips with rosemary and lemon salt, and a black pudding scotch egg that “everyone honestly loved, it had to make it onto the menu,” says Voltano.
The kitchen will also cater to plant-based diets with options including green lasagne (“light but substantial, with fresh greens for a bit of crunch”) and burgers stacked with slow-poached oyster mushrooms, fried in a thick, KFC-inspired batter and served with sour cream and chives.
If he were a punter, McBride said he’d come to The Carlisle every day.
“It’s kind of surreal we’re opening this, as long-term fans – having the opportunity to be considered to be the leaseholders, and then, you know, to actually be doing it, that doesn’t really feel real yet.”
17-19 Albermarle Street, Newtown, carlislecastlehotel.com
Mon-Tue 3pm-midnight; Wed-Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon-10pm
Bianca Hrovat – Bianca is Good Food’s Sydney eating out and restaurant editor.From our partners
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